Jon Paulien, dean of the School of Religion at Loma Linda University, has recently published a number of books. The volume that we are going to review briefly is an interesting and important book dealing with the concept of Armageddon in John’s Apocalypse. The book consists of twelve chapters and an appendix and is directed to church members.

The first two chapters deal with politics, namely Islamic terrorism and the “Western Response” which focuses primarily on the American response. This part is somewhat disconnected from the rest of the book which focuses mostly on the biblical interpretation of Armageddon and takes the readers through Rev 16–19 with excursions into Rev 12–14.

Paulien shows that Armageddon as a concept in Revelation is broader than the single passage of Rev 16:16 where the term is mentioned. He clarifies what the term itself means and what the battle of Armageddon entails through a study of the Old Testament background and of important New Testament passages. He connects the battle of Armageddon with the Mt. Carmel event in the Old Testament, but with reversed effects. Fire comes down on the wrong altar, and people are being deceived so that it will be extremely difficult even for true believers. They can no longer trust their senses but must rely on God’s Word against their perceptions.

The battle of Armageddon is the final battle of world history and is a battle for the minds of human beings. There will be “three worldwide confederacies”: the saints or remnant, Babylon, and a political confederacy consisting of the secular powers (p. 143). Since Babylon and the secular powers join forces there will be only two groups at the end of time, God’s people with the true gospel and Babylon supported by the secular powers which are united under a false gospel. Such a situation will lead to confrontation and the persecution of the saints. Relief comes through divine intervention. The secular powers will turn against Babylon when they realize that they have been deceived. Both of these confederacies will be destroyed, and the saints will triumph with the Lamb.

After having interpreted the final battle, Paulien summarizes his results in chapters ten and eleven and provides a kind of outline of end-time events. Chapter twelve contains helpful practical implications. Paulien briefly returns to the war against terrorism and suggests that this may be a “sort of dress rehearsal for the end of time” (p. 184). He also speaks about “The Islamic Side of Adventism” (p. 187) where he suggests that if some jihadist leaders would become “convicted by the claim of Jesus” and become “associated with the work of the biblical remnant…almost overnight there would be a million new jihadist suspects in North America” (pp. 187-88). Here he may be referring to Adventists and a future political persecution. However, he also stresses trusting in God, the need of discernment, obedience, and being grounded in the Word of God. The appendix deals with the seven heads of the beast in Rev 17.

The volume is easy and good to read. In spite of the difficult subject matter there is great clarity. Illustrations and charts help in understanding the issues and fixing them in the minds of the readers. The book contains very valuable exegetical and theological insights which deserve a reading. Paulien also deals with questionable interpretations of church members that identify these heads with seven popes starting from AD 1929 but which do not do justice to the text and which sometimes lead to “‘soft’ date setting” (p. 216). He challenges these as well as preterist interpretations.

On the other hand, as is to be expected with a book on this subject it contains a number of minor issues with which other students of Revelation would not fully agree. For instance, some may take exception with understanding the Euphrates River, the kings of the earth, the many waters, the earth dwellers, the beast of Rev 17, the ten horns and the seven kings of the same chapter as more or less parallel (p. 165), although they would agree that these are evil powers. Some readers may regret that the papacy is mentioned only in passing (pp. 142, 212) and that there is a much stronger emphasis on Islam, although they would agree that “the religious confederacy of the very end will be bigger than any single religion” (p. 142).

Some stories may be too elaborate and even irrelevant. There is some unnecessary repetition of concepts (e.g., the reference to difficult parts of the Bible on p. 201 and in many other places) and of almost verbatim statements on the same page (e.g., mentions of the U.S. being too powerful to defeat, p. 24). The first two chapters sound as if the author has insider knowledge and knows political decisions made behind closed doors. However, references are missing, and we do not know why, for instance, George Friedman’s analysis is the “best” (26).

Regarding Paulien’s discussion of the beast of Rev 17 (221), readers may also wish to consult the present reviewer’s recent treatments of the subject (see Reflections, no. 5, January, 2005, pp. 2-8; Journal of Asia Adventist Seminary, vol. 10 [2007], pp. 27-50, 153-76).

Overall, the exegetical-theological material, which constitutes most of the volume, is extremely helpful to read and gives valuable insights into the battle of Armageddon. It is crucial for an Adventist audience curious about end-time events. Paulien’s biblical and balanced approach must be commended.

Ekkehardt Mueller, BRI